Club Nintendo announced its awards for members who registered enough games this year to achieve Gold or Platinum status. It will come as a shock to no one that the Gold award is another calendar.

Platinum members can choose the calendar or a cute set of 25 Super Mario Brothers pins in a puzzle box case.

So, Club Nintendo participants, what do you think? Personally, as someone with little use for pins, I’m taking the calendar this year.

Since its inception, Club Nintendo has provided Nintendo fans an opportunity to get more from their product purchases. The program is a wonderful way for Nintendo to reward its customers for purchasing their products, thereby giving consumers a reason for buying new. If you want to qualify for elite status, however, your time is almost up!

June 30 is the last day to fill out those post play surveys and register your Nintendo products to qualify for the free goodies for earning a Gold or Platinum status. Over the past two years the prizes have been rather good, so it will be interesting to see what Nintendo of America has up its sleeves for this 2011.

How close are you to reaching the elusive Elite Status on Club Nintendo?

- The Wii Netflix instant streaming disc’s functionality is being given a traditional burial and will be shot into the sun on February 16th. If you’re still using the disc instead of the downloadable Netflix channel, you might want to use this time to free up some space and pay your last respects to your dearly departed physical media. ( GoNintendo )

- Wired ran an interesting story about the Project M mod for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The goal of the mod is to make the rules and play feel more similar to that of Melee; as such, the changes include removing the controversial tripping element, and reverting Sheik’s down+A to its original Melee trajectory. And all you need to give it a try is a copy of Brawl and an SD card. As a huge Melee fan who couldn’t believe that for all its customization and options, Brawl wouldn’t even let us turn off tripping, this is another M I can really get behind. Have you tried any of the Brawl mods out there? ( Wired )

- Despite the relative equivalence in value between US and Australian currency, the 3DS will cost $349 AUD upon release in Australia. If us Yanks thought $249 was unpalatable, $349 sounds atrocious. Some of the possible causes for the discrepancy include increased shipping rates and higher average salaries in Australia, but will this price hike sour our Aussie friends down under to Nintendo’s forthcoming 3D temptations? ( iTWire )

- Starting on February 9th, Nintendo of America made two brand new rewards available to members of the Club Nintendo customer rewards program. One is a playable replica of Game & Watch: Ball, the first entry in the Game & Watch portable gaming series. The second is a reversible carrying pouch for the Nintendo DS, DSi, or DSi XL. Will either of these prizes convince you to break the bank and part with your hard-earned coins? ( Club Nintendo )

We’ve known for a while now that this year’s Club Nintendo Platinum Status reward would be a Super Mario Characters Figurine. But when I unwrapped the innocent-looking outer cardboard package that arrived for me this weekend, little did I know that the box containing my reward may very well be more coveted than the figurine prize itself.

I am now the proud owner of a fully functional coin box. Last year’s Platinum Status reward, Mario’s trademark red cap, didn’t arrive in anything quite so snazzy. I just want to punch something in happiness. Like this coin box I got here… NO! Must… resist….

Will you be receiving a Club Nintendo reward this year? Found any decent swag to spend your Club Nintendo coins on?